Altersvorsorgedepot 2027: the complete guide

Chapter 1

What is the Altersvorsorgedepot?

A securities account with state subsidy, earmarked for retirement. Legally a certified retirement provision contract under the Altersvorsorgeverträge-Zertifizierungsgesetz, economically an ETF savings plan into which the state pays allowances.

Three things distinguish the account from the Riester-Rente it replaces. First, the investment: there is no longer a mandatory contribution guarantee, and the money can sit 100 percent in equity funds and ETFs. Second, the subsidy: instead of a fixed €175 there is an allowance that grows with your own contribution, up to €540 a year. Third, the circle of eligible people: the self-employed and members of professional pension schemes are directly included for the first time.

The earmarking stays. The capital is meant for payout from 65; anyone who reaches for it earlier repays the subsidy. In return the subsidised assets are protected from seizure, from being counted against Bürgergeld and partly from Grundsicherung (chapter 13). Returns inside the account remain untaxed until payout, when deferred taxation applies (chapter 12).

Why the reform?

In 25 years Riester reached many millions of contracts, but a large share of them are dormant, the mandatory guarantee forced providers into low-return investments in the low-interest years, and costs ate a large part of the allowances. The legislature therefore turned three dials: guarantee optional, subsidy proportional, costs capped for the standard product. The BMF describes the ambition in its monthly report of January 2026 as a “fresh start for private retirement provision”.

When does it start?

On 1 January 2027. Products may be offered from that day, and allowances flow for the first time for the 2027 contribution year. Some providers are already taking pre-registrations in 2026; there is no allowance for 2026. If you want to save now, use an unsubsidised ETF savings plan until then (chapter 17).

Who may open an Altersvorsorgedepot?

Anyone may open one. The subsidy goes to those who are directly or indirectly eligible for allowances. The table summarises the groups; the special cases of parental leave, mini-jobs, civil servants and living abroad are covered in chapter 13.

Read more: What is the Altersvorsorgedepot? A definition · Who is eligible for the subsidy? · How does the account work?

Chapter 2

Legislative status and change log

The Altersvorsorgereformgesetz has been passed and promulgated. Many guides still quote figures from the government draft; this chapter records what applies and what does not.

1. 1 December 2025 · Ministerial draft

   The Federal Ministry of Finance publishes the draft Altersvorsorgereformgesetz.

2. 17 December 2025 · Cabinet decision

   Government draft with a proportional allowance (30 cents per euro, max. €480) and a 1.5% cost cap.

3. 25 March 2026 · Finance Committee

   Recommendation (BT-Drs. 21/4996) replaces the allowance model: 50/25 percent tiers, €540, 1.0% cost cap.

4. 27 March 2026 · Bundestag

   Final vote, passed with the votes of CDU/CSU and SPD.

5. 8 May 2026 · Bundesrat

   Approval at the 1,065th session (BR-Drs. 206/26(B)).

6. 29 May 2026 · Promulgation

   Bundesgesetzblatt I Nr. 156.

7. 1 January 2027 · Launchpending

   Products and subsidy start; the new rules apply.

What changed between the draft and the act

On 25 March 2026 the Finance Committee replaced the government draft's allowance model entirely. Anyone still reading “30 cents per euro” or “€480” today is reading the draft of December 2025.

What is not in the act

Read more: What changes compared with the draft? · The act explained · Low-earner bonus: amount & rules

Chapter 3

The subsidy in detail

The subsidy has four building blocks: Grundzulage, Kinderzulage, Berufseinsteiger-Bonus and Sonderausgabenabzug. All four depend on one value, your own contribution. Choose it well and you collect the full subsidy; pay in less than €120 a year and you receive no Grundzulage at all.

The Grundzulage: two tiers, one kink

On the first €360 of own contribution the state adds 50 percent, so at most €180. On every further euro up to €1,800 it adds 25 percent, so at most €360. Together €540. Above that the account pays off only through tax deferral and the Sonderausgabenabzug; the allowance grows no further.

The tiers favour small contributions: €30 a month is subsidised by half, €150 a month by 30 percent. For low earners that is the lever Riester's 4 percent rule never offered (chapter 13, Grundsicherung).

Kinderzulage: 1 euro per euro

Per child the state doubles own contributions up to €300, regardless of the child's year of birth. €25 a month per child is enough for the full Kinderzulage. It is paid only once per child, by default to the parent who receives Kindergeld; married couples can have it assigned to the other account on request. Two children and the full Grundzulage add up to €1,140 in allowances a year.

Berufseinsteiger-Bonus and limits

Anyone who concludes the contract before their 25th birthday receives a one-off €200. The ceiling for payments is €6,840 a year; it is meant for people who want to park severance payments or bonuses in a tax-favoured way. The subsidy can be spread over at most two contracts, but it does not double.

Günstigerprüfung: allowance or tax, never both twice

Own contributions up to €1,800 plus the allowances you are entitled to count as special expenses. The tax office calculates automatically: if the tax advantage is higher than the allowance, the difference is refunded; if it is lower, the allowance stands. At a 25 percent marginal tax rate the check brings almost nothing, at 42 percent several hundred euros (table in chapter 12). It is claimed via Anlage AV of the tax return.

Read more: Grundzulage: amount & conditions · Kinderzulage: do both parents get the 300 euros? · Maximum contribution & allowances 2027 · Tax subsidy & Sonderausgabenabzug

Chapter 4

Worked examples for six life situations

Six savers, one subsidy year. The figures come from our subsidy calculator; the tax advantage from the Günstigerprüfung comes on top in each case and depends on the marginal tax rate.

• Lena, 24: In the first year a one-off €200 Berufseinsteiger-Bonus is added. Up to €360 of own contribution the subsidy rate is 50%; above that it falls.
• Ayşe, 36: The Kinderzulage goes to the parent who receives Kindergeld; married couples can have it assigned to the other account.
• Jonas, 41: Newly eligible. At his marginal tax rate the Günstigerprüfung returns additional tax (see chapter 12).
• Maria, 33: €30 a month is enough for the full 50 percent tier and the full Kinderzulage. More than twice her own contribution comes from the state.
• Paul, 52: Without consent to the transfer of salary data to the Zulagenstelle no allowance is paid. The form goes to the payroll office.
• Sabine, 45: Indirectly eligible: own contract, at least €120 own contribution, allowance capped at €175 (§ 79 S. 2 EStG). The tiers would give €180; €175 is paid.

And over 31 years?

Ayşe from the example above saves €1,800 a year, receives €1,140 in allowances and lets the account run at 6% return and 1% costs until 67. Own payments: €55,800. Allowances: €35,340. Final capital nominal around €218,439, in today's purchasing power around €118,229. Without the allowances the same payments would leave around €133,738 in the account; the subsidy therefore accounts for about 63% of the result. In reality the Kinderzulage ends with Kindergeld; the calculation simplifies by assuming it over the whole term and therefore slightly overstates.

Read more: Worked example: family with 2 children · Worked example: single parents · Starting at 25 · Starting at 55

Chapter 5

Three product routes: account, guarantee product, Standarddepot

The act subsidises three product types equally. They differ in guarantee, investment freedom and costs, not in the allowance.

The Standarddepot is the legislature's answer for savers who do not want to choose: two funds, automatic de-risking before retirement, effective costs of at most 1.0%. Every provider must offer one; the Federal Government may additionally set up a publicly organised Standarddepot by regulation, whose design is still open.

Guarantee products secure 80 or 100 percent of contributions at the start of payout. That costs: providers have to put parts of the capital into low-volatility, low-return investments, and the guarantee itself is priced. In the Sirius Campus and Aeiforia survey, 76 percent wanted a guarantee and 9 percent did not. Chapters 8 and 14 show what this preference costs over 30 years.

Read more: The 3 product variants compared · What is the Standarddepot? · 0, 80 or 100 percent guarantee? · AVD products at a glance

Chapter 6

Calculate your subsidy

The subsidy calculator uses exactly the values on this page and shows, for your figures, allowances, tax advantage, final capital, the comparison with an unsubsidised ETF savings plan and, if you hold a Riester contract, the switch-versus-stay difference.

Chapter 7

Investing in the account: positive list and ETF strategy

The account is not a free securities account. What may go in is set out in a statutory positive list; which ETFs from that list are available in the savings plan is up to the provider.

The positive list is an exhaustive enumeration of the permitted assets (BMF FAQ). Which specific ETFs a provider offers from it is up to the provider. So before opening an account, ask how many ETFs are available for savings plans and what each execution costs.

Which ETF? Five criteria instead of product names

One ETF, several ETFs or Standarddepot?

The de-risking plan: what replaces the guarantee

A market crash in the year before payout is the risk that guarantee products insure against. Anyone saving without a guarantee takes on this job themselves: over the last ten to fifteen years the equity share moves step by step into money market and bond ETFs. Inside the Altersvorsorgedepot that triggers no tax, unlike a normal securities account where every switch costs Abgeltungsteuer. Anyone who later chooses a drawdown plan instead of an annuity can hold more equities at retirement, because the capital stays invested for another twenty years.

Read more: Which ETFs for the account? The selection guide · One ETF or several? · Investing more safely with age (de-risking) · Sustainable ETFs

Chapter 8

Costs: what effective costs really mean

The effective cost ratio is the number that counts: it says by how many percentage points a year all costs together reduce the return. An ETF's TER is only one part of it.

Account fee, savings-plan execution, fund costs, guarantee costs, insurance wrapper, acquisition commission: everything ends up in one number. The standard product may reach at most 1.0%; for free accounts there is no cap, but a neobroker account with a world ETF typically sits well below it. What the difference makes over 40 years is shown by the calculation using the assumptions of our subsidy calculator.

Between the low-cost account and the cost cap lie around €67,609 in final capital, between the account and a typical policy around €102,693. The allowances over the term add up to €21,600. An expensive policy therefore hands most of the subsidy back through costs.

What BaFin measured in 2026

The study concerns capital-forming life insurance, not the Altersvorsorgedepot. What matters is the assessment approach: BaFin looks at costs, return prospects, lapse behaviour and payout-phase benefits together and demands that reasonable customer value be achievable over the intended term. That is exactly the question to put to every provider: how does the cost burden develop if the contract runs as planned, on a switch, and on early termination?

Cost checklist before opening

1. Ask for effective costs in percent per year, not just the ETF's TER. The effective cost ratio includes account, contract and product costs.
2. Check savings-plan execution fees: fixed amounts per execution hit small instalments disproportionately.
3. Avoid front-end loads on actively managed in-house funds (often up to 5%); ETFs are usually bought without a load.
4. Have the costs of guarantee components and the insurance wrapper shown separately.
5. Know the switching costs: in the first five years at most €150 administration fee charged by the receiving provider; after that the transferring provider must transfer free of charge.

Read more: Avoiding hidden costs · How much do costs reduce the subsidy? · Does the cost cap apply to all accounts? · Altersvorsorgedepot 2027: no sure thing

Chapter 9

Where it fits: Riester, Rürup, bAV, ETF savings plan

The account replaces Riester, but not the other pillars. The matrix places it in the three-pillar model and shows where it wins and where an alternative fits better.

Short rules

• Eligible and able to live with fluctuations: fill the Altersvorsorgedepot first, at least up to the full Grundzulage (€1,800).
• Self-employed with a high marginal tax rate: look at Rürup in addition, not instead of the account. Rürup does not get the account's allowances.
• Employer pays a 20% or higher contribution: run the bAV against the account; below 15% the contribution is only the statutory minimum when social contributions are saved.
• Existing Riester with a high guarantee and less than ten years to run: tend to keep or freeze. Long remaining term and high costs: calculate a transfer.
• Subsidy used up: everything above €1,800 a year belongs in the cheaper unsubsidised ETF savings plan, not necessarily in the capped account.

Read more: Altersvorsorgedepot or bAV · Altersvorsorgedepot or Rürup · AVD or ETF savings plan after tax · AVD or private pension insurance · Alternatives compared

Chapter 10

Riester: keep, freeze or transfer

Millions of Riester contracts face the same question. There are four routes, and only one of them is almost always wrong: cancelling.

On transfer only the cash value moves, not fund units. Allowances received so far are kept; the grandfathering of the old contract ends. From the switch the new rules apply: proportional Grundzulage, no guarantee (unless a guarantee product is chosen), new payout options. A return to the Riester system is not envisaged, and after 2026 no new Riester contracts will be offered.

Example: age 40, €25,000 Riester balance

Contract running for 10 years (transfer free of charge), €1,200 own contribution a year until 67, 6% return and 1% costs in both variants. In the Riester contract €175 Grundzulage continues to flow, in the account €390. Result at 67: staying around €172,265, transferring around €184,607, a difference of €12,342 in favour of the account, break-even already at 41. The calculation assumes equal costs; in practice the Riester contract is often more expensive, which widens the advantage. But it also assumes giving up the guarantee; anyone who wants to keep it compares against a guarantee product.

Read more: Keep or switch Riester · Transferring Riester into the AVD: the process · Calculator & example · Still pay in for 2026? · Wohn-Riester and the AVD

Chapter 11

Payout from 65

Payout begins between 65 and 70. Two routes are open, both with up to 30% as a lump sum at the start.

The drawdown plan pays more and remains inheritable, but it ends. Anyone still alive at 85, which at today's life expectancy is no edge case, is left without this payment afterwards. The life annuity pays for life, but less, and the capital belongs to the insurer. A middle way is the plan to 85 plus a separate residual annuity, taken out at the start of payout for the time after; whether and how providers combine the two will become clear with the first products in 2027.

• Start at the earliest on reaching age 65, at the latest at age 70.
• Small-amount annuity: if the capital would yield a monthly annuity of at most 1.5% of the monthly reference figure (Bezugsgröße, § 18 SGB IV), the provider may pay out the balance in one go. In 2026 that is around €59 a month.
• Home ownership: the balance can be withdrawn to buy, build, pay down or make barrier-free a home you live in yourself (Altersvorsorge-Eigenheimbetrag, at least €3,000). The amount is recorded in a Wohnförderkonto and taxed in retirement.
• Death: a spouse or registered partner takes over the subsidised capital into a contract of their own without loss of subsidy. Other heirs receive the balance less the allowances and tax advantages to be repaid.

Read more: Life annuity or drawdown plan to 85? · What happens after age 85? · The lump-sum withdrawal · Withdrawal for buying a home

Chapter 12

Tax in the accumulation and payout phases

Three phases, one logic: deduct up front, grow tax-free in the middle, pay tax at the end. The table shows what that means compared with an unsubsidised ETF savings plan.

The Günstigerprüfung in numbers

In the payout phase the subsidised part is taxed in full at the personal tax rate (§ 22 Nr. 5 EStG as amended by the reform act). That sounds like a disadvantage but is usually an advantage: the tax rate in retirement is generally below the one during working life, and until then the capital has been able to work without Abgeltungsteuer, Vorabpauschale or tax on switches. The increase in the taxable share from 2029 envisaged in the government draft was deleted by the Finance Committee.

Read more: How is the account taxed? · Deferred taxation: do I lose out? · Anlage AV in the tax return · Does the Vorabpauschale apply?

Chapter 13

Life situations other guides leave out

Most guides stop at the size of the subsidy. The questions that actually come up in an advice meeting are different: what about my partner, what happens on divorce, insolvency, unemployment, emigration? Twelve answers, each with its legal basis.

Read more: Joint account for married couples? · Altersvorsorgedepot on divorce · Altersvorsorgedepot on death · Is the account protected from seizure?

Chapter 14

Risks and criticism

The account is better than Riester, but no sure thing. Four risks stay with the saver, and the criticism from consumer advocates and insurers points in opposite directions.

Who criticises what

The two camps contradict each other: consumer advocates want lower costs and do not trust guarantees, insurers want guarantees and warn of the longevity risk of the drawdown plan. The legislature gave both something (1.0% cost cap, guarantee products as an option) and denied both something (no cap for free accounts, no mandatory guarantee). For the individual saver that means: the quality of the account depends more on your own choice of provider and product than it did under Riester.

Read more: What consumer advocates demand · What are the account's disadvantages? · Market crash shortly before retirement · Can the state scrap the subsidy?

Chapter 15

Opening an account: documents, allowance application, providers

Opening the account itself takes minutes. What takes longer is choosing a provider, and what most often goes wrong is a forgotten tax ID or consent form.

In five steps

1. Choose a provider: number and cost of ETFs available for savings plans, account fee, execution fee, switching costs, Standarddepot offer. Our provider comparison ranks the announced offers as soon as conditions are published.
2. Open the account and file the permanent allowance application once; after that the provider retrieves the allowance automatically every year. Forgotten allowances can be claimed retroactively for two years.
3. Set the savings rate: at least €10 a month for the Grundzulage, €25 per child for the full Kinderzulage, €150 a month for the full Grundzulage.
4. Report changes: the birth of a child, marriage or divorce, a move into self-employment or the civil service change eligibility and the required contribution.
5. Switching provider remains possible at any time: in the first five years up to €150 administration fee at the receiving provider, free after that.

Read more: Opening an account: step by step · Do I have to apply for the allowance? · Choosing a provider: the checklist · Neobroker or bank?

Chapter 16

Frühstart-Rente: where the process stands

The Frühstart-Rente is the children's account that flows into the Altersvorsorgedepot. Unlike the reform act, it has not been passed yet.

• €10 a month from the federal government, from the 6th to the 18th birthday, into the child's own Altersvorsorgedepot.
• Parents and grandparents may add up to €6,840 a year; returns stay tax-free until retirement.
• Start backdated to 1 January 2026, first cohort born in 2020. Children without an account are covered by a collective fallback solution; the money is later transferred to a contract of their own.
• At 18 the contract passes seamlessly into subsidised private retirement provision: Grundzulage, Kinderzulage later, Berufseinsteiger-Bonus before 25.

Ten euros a month over twelve years is €1,440 of state capital; left invested until 67, at 6% return and 0.2% costs that becomes around €33,536 on paper (model calculation, no promise of return). What matters is not the premium but that at 18 the child has a running account and an entitlement to the Berufseinsteiger-Bonus. Grandparents who want to top up should keep the gift tax allowances in mind (€200,000 per grandchild in ten years).

Read more: The Frühstart-Rente explained simply · Frühstart-Rente vs. Altersvorsorgedepot · Frühstart-Rente or junior account? · What happens at 18?

Chapter 17

What you can do in 2026

Until 1 January 2027 there is neither account nor allowance. Four things can be done anyway, so the start does not get lost in the January rush.

Chapter 18

Conclusion and four check questions

The Altersvorsorgedepot is the first subsidised retirement product in Germany where subsidy, investment freedom and low costs can go together. Whether they do is decided by the saver with four questions.

1. Am I directly or indirectly eligible, and do I have the evidence (tax ID, consent, tax return)?
2. Which own contribution uses up my allowances, and what is left at the tax office after the Günstigerprüfung?
3. Do I want to pay for a guarantee, or will I bear fluctuations and de-risk myself?
4. What does the provider cost effectively per year, and what would a later switch cost me?

Anyone who can answer these four questions needs no advice to sign up. Anyone stuck on one of them, say an existing Riester contract or tax as a self-employed person, should clear it up before signing. Both are available through this site: calculate it yourself, or request a conversation with an adviser from our network.

What does this mean for your retirement provision?

The subsidy calculator works with exactly the values on this page. Or let an independent adviser from our network walk you through your situation, free of charge and without obligation.

Calculate my subsidyFind advice

Chapter 19

Frequently asked questions

When does the Altersvorsorgedepot start?

On 1 January 2027. The Altersvorsorgereformgesetz was passed by the Bundestag on 27 March 2026, approved by the Bundesrat on 8 May 2026 and promulgated in the Bundesgesetzblatt (BGBl. I Nr. 156) on 29 May 2026. Before that there is no subsidy and there are no products.

How big is the subsidy?

Grundzulage: 50 cents per euro on the first €360 of own contribution and 25 cents per euro up to €1,800, at most €540 a year. Kinderzulage: €1 per euro up to €300 per child and year. Berufseinsteiger-Bonus: a one-off €200 for contracts concluded before the 25th birthday. On top comes the Sonderausgabenabzug with the Günstigerprüfung.

Is there a minimum contribution?

Yes: €120 own contribution a year, that is €10 a month, is the condition for the Grundzulage. The full Grundzulage comes with €1,800 a year, the full Kinderzulage with €300 per child. A percentage rule like Riester's 4 percent rule no longer exists.

Is there a low-earner bonus of 175 euros?

No. Such a bonus was in the failed 2024 reform bill and is still quoted by some guides; it does not appear in the final version of the Altersvorsorgereformgesetz (BT-Drs. 21/4996). The €175 in the act is the allowance cap for indirectly eligible spouses.

Can I have more than one Altersvorsorgedepot?

Yes, but the subsidy is granted only once in total and can be spread over at most two contracts. More contracts bring no additional allowance, only more administration.

What happens if I want the money before 65?

An early withdrawal is possible but forfeits the subsidy: allowances and tax advantages on the withdrawn part are reclaimed and returns are taxed retrospectively. The exceptions are a withdrawal for owner-occupied housing and the transfer to a spouse on death.

Can the balance be inherited?

Yes. Spouses and registered partners take over the subsidised capital into a contract of their own without loss of subsidy. Other heirs receive the balance less the allowances and tax advantages to be repaid. In a drawdown plan the remaining balance stays inheritable; with a life annuity only with a guaranteed annuity period.

Can I invest in cryptocurrencies or individual shares?

Crypto assets, leveraged products and derivatives are excluded. Permitted are the assets on the statutory positive list, in practice mainly investment funds and ETFs. Which of those are available in the savings plan is decided by each provider.

Should I cancel my Riester contract?

Almost never. Cancelling is a harmful use with repayment of all allowances and tax advantages. Sensible alternatives are continuing to contribute, freezing, or the subsidy-neutral transfer into the Altersvorsorgedepot (at most €150 in costs in the first 5 contract years, free after that).

Can the self-employed use the Altersvorsorgedepot?

Yes, directly for the first time: traders and freelancers (§ 15, § 18 Abs. 1 Nr. 1 bis 3 EStG) with a filed tax return, as well as compulsory members of professional pension schemes. Until now they only had Rürup or indirect subsidy via a spouse.

Is the insurance wrapper worth it?

For most savers, no. It costs ongoing extra fees for guarantee and administration that can largely consume the allowance over the term. If you want a guarantee, compare the effective costs of the guarantee product against a pure account plus a de-risking plan.

What is the Frühstart-Rente?

A planned children's account: €10 a month from the federal government from the 6th to the 18th birthday, family top-ups of up to €6,840 a year, tax-free returns, backdated start in 2026 for the 2020 cohort. As of August 2026 this is a ministerial draft dated 22 July 2026, not a law.

How flexible are the payments?

Very. Instalments can be changed or paused at any time; extra payments are possible up to the contribution cap of €6,840 a year. Only the allowance has the lower limit of €120 a year.

Can I switch provider?

Yes, at any time. The receiving provider may charge at most €150 administration fee in the first 5 contract years; after that the transferring provider must transfer free of charge. What is transferred is the cash value, not the individual fund units.

Is the Altersvorsorgedepot offset against Bürgergeld?

No. State-subsidised retirement assets are protected for Bürgergeld (§ 12 SGB II) as long as they are not withdrawn in a way that forfeits the subsidy. Grundsicherung in old age also applies an exemption for income from additional retirement provision (§ 82 Abs. 4 SGB XII).

What happens if I move abroad?

Within the EU and EEA, nothing. On moving to a third country, allowances and tax advantages are reclaimed, deferred in the payout phase and offset against the benefits (§ 95 EStG).

Chapter 20

Sources

T1 are official primary sources (the act, parliamentary papers, BMF, Federal Government, supervisors), T2 independent consumer and industry sources. Providers' marketing pages are not part of this page's fact base.

More Vorsorgedepot-Lotse pages on the topic: Subsidy calculator · Facts & figures · Provider comparison · AVD products · All guides · Alternatives compared.